American balloons have illegally flown over ten times in Chinese airspace since the beginning of this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing.
⠀
The diplomat pointed out that the States did not receive permission for these flights from Beijing.
⠀
“Illegal entry of US balloons into the airspace of other countries is a common occurrence,” Wang said.
⠀
In response to the question of what period he was talking about, he noted that the countdown could be from January 1, 2022.
⠀
On February 4, the US military shot down a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, which had previously crossed Canada and the US land.
⠀
In addition, the military shot down two more “high-rise objects” over the state of Alaska and Canada last week.
⠀
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin suggested that China used the device to monitor strategic targets. Because of this incident, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed a visit to China.
⠀
According to the Pentagon, at least three balloons flew into America during the presidency of Donald Trump, who denies this. The Americans claim that the Chinese used high-altitude balloons to collect intelligence information around the world – in more than 40 countries on five continents.
⠀
Beijing dismissed unfounded speculation and hype, explaining that the situation was caused by force majeure and the device was a weather balloon that deviated from the route. In addition, China is demanding the return of the wreckage of the device.
